Problems with 2001 Ford F-150 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Dt: 2001 ford f150. the contact stated, on october 16, 2005 the spark plug flew out of his vehicle. the vehicle was not able to be driven at that time. it was pulled off the road and towed to a local shop. the mechanic did not know why this occurred. according to ford, they have not heard of this problem. the vehicle has not been fixed at this time. the head needs to be replaced as a result.*ak

dt: the contact owns 2001 ford f-150. there is a clattering sound coming from the engine. upon inspection of the vehicle the dealer stated that the engine needed to be replaced. the reason for replacement was that there was a rod knocking in the engine. the manufacturer has not been contacted. *ak updated 11/16/05. *jb

Our ford f150 has 46,000 miles on it. on friday the 14th my husband was driving down a residential street when he heard a loud banging under the hood. he pulled over right away and the engine died. he looked under the hood and could see that the distributor cap was broken and flopping around. he had a friend tow the truck to the friends residence so that the truck wouldn't be left on the side of the road. my husband then called a tow company to tow the truck 18 miles to a nearby dealership to examine the truck. we were told that the spark plug threads were stripped and that new heads would be required to repair our truck. we were also informed that our extended warranty did not cover this repair and that our bill would be approx $3,200.00. after the tow bill, parts, labor and rental car we are now up to $3,500.00 in expenses. *jb

2001 ford f150 supercrew 5.4 liter triton v8 engine. on sept 16, 2005 my truck experienced a #7 spark plug blowout. the head was replaced. one month later, the other head experienced a spark plug blowout. it seems there are not enough threads to hold the spark plugs in the engine during normal operations. the engine only has 71,000 miles on it. at 60,000 miles, the ford service center replaced the spark plugs in accordance with the ford motor company manufacturer specifications and recommended maintenance schedule. *nm

Dt: the consumer's vehicle was at a red light and heard a loud popping noise from the underneath the hood. upon acceleration the vehicle began to shake. the consumer pulled over to inspect the vehicle and discovered a spark plug was lying on top of the engine. the consumer later drove the vehicle to a repair shop. the mechanic inspected the vehicle and consulted a ford dealer. the mechanic used a heel coil to resolve the problem as suggested by the ford dealer. the vehicle could not be completely repaired due to a lack of tools to set the timing chain on the vehicle. ford did not have these special tools available to the public. no further repairs could be made by the mechanic at this time. *ak (12/02/05)*sc

I was in the parking lot of a store and when i went to start the truck it made a huge popping sound upon investigation i found that the spark plug shot out of the hole after contacting my ford dealership they informed me that this has been an ongoing issue with the 5.4 and v-10 motors the problem was the spark plug could only be installed using three threads and that they have corrected that problem and now when i fix the truck the new heads you will be able to go down 5 threads at the price of $1300.00 per head and the total cost of $3200.00 parts & labor. *nm

The #3 spark plug blew out while accelerating from a stop sign. my small town mechanic said he is seeing 4-5 of these per year and blames a design defect in the triton 5.4 head. the head is too thin and made from aluminum so the threads strip out. the truck has 70,000 miles and the plugs are original. ford has changed the head design but won't admit to the flaw. this could have been very dangerous. *nm

Dt: the consumer owns a 2001 ford f150. on 9-2-05 while driving on interstate he heard a loud pop and lost power, pulled over and found that a spark plug blew out of the engine. the consumer drove the vehicle to the dealership, they said that the engine head would have to be replaced and the cost would be over $3000. the consumer had it repaired at a cost of $33000. the consumer talked to several different dealerships and they offered no assistance. *ak (11/17/05) *sc

Have 2001 ford f150 supercrew 5.4 engine with 51k miles. accelerated to enter highway and heard loud "pop", then lost engine compression and heard loud un-muffled engine noise eminating from the engine compartment. having a fair knowledge of cars, i thought i blew the head gasket, but upon inspection by a local dealer (cosway ford in stafford, nj) was told i blew a spark plug and it is not a covered item under my extended warranty. the service tech seemed to know right away what the problem was when i described it, leading me to believe this is a very common problem. as i gathered, upon researching the internet, this is more than common, it is a manufacturer defect in the aluminum cylinder heard. i am 33 years old and have been around cars for a long time and have never heard of this problem. i bought the truck new and babied the vehicle. it seems this problem is limited to those year 5.4's that use the flawed 4-thread cylinder head, as to why in 2003 ford changed the design to 8-threads. please help force ford motor company to fess up and recall these vehicles. i understand it can happen again. this repai will be costing me $501.80, plus the rental of a car (was far from home on vacation).

I own a 2001 ford f150 4.6 lter and at approximately 105,000 miles #3 spark plug blew out of the head. ford attempted to replace the plug and again it blew out. i fixed it with a helicoil myself as the expense was $3000 for the dealership to fix. recently with 121,000 miles it was running rough and when the dealership went to replace the spark plugs they dropped something into cylinder #7. the mechanic started the engine and now have an inoperable vehicle that they are refusing to fix.

Well at first my 2001 f-150 superscript at 55000 miles started to lag, when i would press the gas it would take a long time to pick up speed or change gears. then one day i was driving home from work going about 55 mph when i hear a loud pop, i let go of the gas pedal because it really scared me i had to regain control of my vehicle once i did i tried pressing on the gas and it wouldn't go anywhere so i decided to pull over and have to towed to a ford dealership, it was there that they told me it was going to cost me 2500 hundred dollars to fix. now i have to wait two weeks until it gets repaired. *jb

Dt: while the consumer was driving a spark plug blew out on 7-30-05. when the consumer took vehicle to the dealership put the spark plug back in its place. the problem has not occurred again. the service engine light came on and the engine was running rough. other than the above entioned problems the consumer had no other trouble with the vehicle. the consumer believed the problem was with the engine. *ak

Spark plug getting blown from the head, damaging the head in a 5.4l ford f-150. repair was done by myself, using a big-sert repair kit from time-sert. this was the second time it has happened. *jb

On or about 4/21/05 i was driving my 2001 ford f-150 taking my son and nephew to school. as i made a right turn at the school my engine stalled. i lost all stering control and had just enough brake power to slow the vehicle. i put the truck in neutral and started the truck. i took it to my local ford dealer and they replaced the air intake control valve. about 2 weeks later at the exact same spot and time the engine again stalled on me. again, i lost all stering and had just enough brakes to slow so i could put the truck in neutral and start the engine. my ford dealer is telling me they can not find the problem with it and stated i could pick the truck up and drive it if i wanted to. not wanting to have myself or my family killed in a car crash i told them no and that they needed to fix the truck. they agreed to try and fix the truck. i understand that you may not be able to help me with this next issue but if you can i would appreciate it. while they try to find the problem with my truck they have the right to keep my truck for 30 days and i would have to rent a car. at $20 per day for 30 days that would cost me $600. i can not afford this as ford refuses to lend me a car. thank you. robert r. hernandez

While driving at approximately 30 mph engine made a ping noise. it sounded as if something broke. owner called for a tow truck and had the vehicle towed to the dealer. the vehicle was put on the diagnostic machine, and owner was informed that the spark plug ejected from the cylinder head that because it was made of aluminum, and if the spark plugs were tightened too much, or the spark plugs were cross threaded when installed they would be ejected. *ak

While parked for 24 hours vehicle caught on fire in the engine compartment where the cruise control cable was located. owner was able to put the fire out. *ak

Vehicle was parked inside of the garage and it caught on fire. the driver called the fire department to extinguish the fire. no injuries reported. vehicle was towed, and totaled by the insurance company. *ak

2001 ford f150 crew cab. 4.6 v8 has a leaky head gasket. ford is aware of the problem because there is a service bulliten. artical no.03-6-2 dated 03/31/03. i feel if there are many like this why is there not a recall. *ak

This is a 2001 ford svt lightning that has been a victim of a blown spark plug. this is a common failure in these triton motors. in the new groups, it is speculated that this occurs for two reasons. 1) a design error in the cylinder head. in the pre-2003 5.4 mod motor heads, there are a total of 4 threads. ford has realized this problem and corrected the 2003-later heads with 8 threads to hold the spark plug in. this problem effected all triton 5.4 motors and the problem has shown up in 5.4 liter motors in other non-lightning trucks and expeditions. 2) there have been many instances where ford customers have found that the spark plugs have been very loose in these triton heads. this is not known whether this is from a lack of threads or being loose from the factory. either way, in this day and age in automotive technology, the requirement that a customer has to check the torque on spark plugs is unrealistic. other factors to consider: my lightning is a 2001 model with 15,000 miles on it. obviously it is infrequently used. there is a performance chip that does not add boost. in essence, this truck is pampered. the head failure occurred during normal driving on a slight incline go the speed of traffic. approximately 35 mph. there is no detonation issues with this vehicle. prior to this failure the power train had no chronic issues such has unknown supercharger noises, engine ticks/knocks, ignition, fuel issues or smoky exhaust. ford will not cover this damage and failure even thought this happens frequently in f-150 ford trucks running this engine. *nm

The consumer parked the vehicle in the driveway and heard the horn honking, when the owner went to see what was happening, the entire vehicle had gone up in flames. the fire department was notified and the fire chief said the fire started under the hood and that it was a mechanical defect which ignited the flames. provide further details. *jb

My 2001 ford svt f-150 lightning blew a spark plug out of the cylinder head of the engine. there was no prior warning to this happening. when this happened the vehicle was undrivable and i was forced to have it towed. ford towing was unable to get the vehicle until the following day so i was forced to pay for the tow out of my pocket. the first dealership i went to said they wouldn't fix the truck under warranty. the second dealership that it went to was able to cover the repair under warranty. this entire incident happened why i was on vacation. i am a soldier returning from iraq and i was forced to spend a week in a hotel room why they waited on parts to fix my vehicle. after the vehicle was fixed i was sent on my way and two hours later the vehicle had more problems. several other small components were also damaged and i was forced to stop again. this was also covered under warranty. i thought that this was unheard of, but as it turns out is very common to the ford triton v-8 engines. i am one of thousands that this has happened to and i feel fortunate that i wasn't left stranded in an unsafe area.

While driving home from work today, approaching the on-ramp to the 280 on sand hill road in menlo park, ca. the 2001 f-150 5.4l pick-up with 75,000 miles, started making a loud popping sound while driving about 35 mph. i pulled the truck over to the side of the road immediately and turned the engine off. the car was towed by flatbed to the local shell gas station repair shop to be seen by the mechanic in the morning. the mechanic indicated that the #3 plug on the passenger side of the car had come out of the head, the threads to the spark plug stripped. he was unable to get a new plug into the head and wanted my approval to spend about 5 hours or $750 to remove the head and inspect the cylinder head for a possible stripped socket. the ford dealership separately quoted me $1,010 for a new cylinder head and the ford service adviser at the palo alto ford dealership quoted my an estimated 12 hours to tear down and remove the head for inspection. the hourly rate quoted is $105. i checked with another local auto repair shop, where the mechanic told me that the blown plug and stripped head was a common problem. he agreed that the five hour estimate to remove the head sounded right (why is ford quoting me 12 hours?). *nm

Vehicle stalled . consumer took vehicle to dealer and was told that a right solenoid gasket was defective, and catalytic convertor malfunctioned. warranty expired, however dealer was willing to meet the consumer half way on the expense. *ak

I own a ford f150 5.4l lariat 4x4 that recently had a blown plug in #4 cylinder. my truck has 9200 miles on it. i was driving down the road when this happened. i drove the truck to a ford dealer on all 8 cylinders for a tune-up and advised of what had happened. they acted oblivious to the problem and supposedly their 20 yr tech could not get the 4th plug back in all the way when he was supposed to be changing the plugs. i later found that "blow bys" in the ford 5.4l engine is actually very common. the mechanic at the ford dealer totally stripped the #4 cylinder and ford wanted to charge me $2700 to replace the head. i took my truck to a private shop and had stainless steel sleeves put in all 8 cylinders, since the problem is due to the heads being aluminum and the plugs being steel. when these 2 dissimilar metals expand and contract at different tempatures, causing the plugs to eventually work their way out. how do we get ford to own up to their design issue and stop passing on the problem at the consumers' expense?*ak

My truck developed a vibration and began to have trouble accelerating. sometimes it would shake violently at idle. i brought it to my dealer and had a technician ride with me. he felt the shuddering and said my engine was misfiring. the coil pack and plug (i believe #1) had to be replaced. this, of course, occurred just after my truck was out of warranty (47k miles). an employee told me she had the same thing happen to her truck after she bought it used.*ak

Ford f 150 safety issue. *bf (built with magnesium radiator supports) the vehicle was destroyed due to a fire in the engine compartment. the consumer parked the vehicle and later found the vehicle smoking. the vehicle was a total loss. *sc *jb

Ford spark plug blowout. *jb

While driving vehicle stopped in the middle of traffic, and consumer could not restart it. the traffic was so heavy that consumer could not even get over to the shoulder for safety. consumer's life and her children's' life was in danger for approximately one hour before help arrived. consumer had the vehicle towed to the nearest dealer, and mechanic determined that the egr valve was dead. *ak

I have a 2001 ford f-150 supercrew, and while driving to work last night on the expressway, heard a loud bang, and found out that a spark-plug had blown right out of the cylinder head on the engine. the noise was loud enough, and the sudden vibration of the engine at first sounded and felt like a tire had blown. on doing a quick scan of the internet, (at first looking for part numbers) i was amazed at the number of exact instances, and number of others that have had the same experience. some even posting pictures that resemble what the broken parts from my truck looked like-- exactly! the weather conditions at the time (11:30 p.m.) dry road, about 36 degrees, and very light traffic. i have very little doubt that had the conditions have been snowy, icy or maybe even just as cold and wet, that this type of situation could have caused some type of accident. either from the vibration and sudden noise, or the simple startling incident happening to a less experienced driver. *ak

Spark plugs/coils going bad at 13,000 then 18,000 and 39,000 miles on 2001 ford f150 supercrew 5.4l. *ak

Bought a 2001 ford f150 lightning with 32,xxx miles on 4/16/04. i was driving the truck back from michigan to tampa,fl, and after refueling my truck, went to start it up and blew a spark blug straight out of the cylinder head. after doing hours upon hours of research tonight, this seems to be a common problem with no recourse from ford. there is no recall or tsb on the 99-02 f150 lightning cylinder head, yet in 03 they redesigned the cylinder head with added threads to keep the spark plugs intact. i feel that with so many people affected by this, something needs to be done about it.*ak

2001 f150 lightning.blewout a plug from the head 24030 miles on engine. *ak

Consumer popped the second spark plug. the vehicle is running rough. there was something between the plug and the aluminum head that made the plugs pop off. please provide any further information. please provide vehicle identification number. *jb

Truck blowing out the number 3 passenger side spark plug. ford should do a recall on all 99-02 svt lighting, and fix the problem with the new and improved 03 svt lighting heads on both sides. all there doing now is replacing the one head that blew, with the same year head just for it to blow again down the road.

Head gasket leaks. *ak

Problems with knocking noise coming from the engine compartment.*mr the vehicle was taken to the dealer before the warranty expired. the consumer indicated that ford motor company is aware of the problem with the 5.4 liter engine but they have not fix them. the consumer would like the vehicle repaired or his money refunded. *nm

Spark plug blew out of driver side cylinder head, on an 2001 ford, f-150 lightning all factory 5.4l supercharged v8. vehicle was traveling in extreme rain at around 40 mph, and 1000 rpm. vehicle has 31,000 miles, and no modifications have been added to the vehicle. if the vehicle was running at a higher rpm, spark plug could have become a projectile injuring somebody, or causing a wreck at 5:00 traffic time. *ak

2001 f 150 5.4 l engine driving along and spark plug # 3 blew out of the head. *la

Ford f-150 pickup blows spark plug out of cylinder, causing thousands in repair costs. happened on my 2001 f-150 a few hundred miles after the warranty expired. (37,000 mi)

2001 ford f150 caught on fire while parked.*mr *nm

Spark plug explosively blown from cylinder head. *ak

2001 ford f150 "lightning" 5.4l v8. blew out the 3rd spark plug back on the passenger side head. this is due to a small number of threads that hold the spark plugs in the head on 1999-2003 ford f150 lightnings, as well as other ford products that utilize the same head design (mostly 5.4l v-8s). head was replaced under warranty, along with the coil pack that was destroyed by the ejected plug. do not know if an open cylinder could have caused a fire. *la

While traveling on the highway and without prior warning vehicle will shut down. *ak

While driving the vehicle manning fold bracket fell down on the highway. but before it fell hit the gas cable accelerator. dealer notified. *ak

The rear passenger side spark plug blew out of the head at normal operating speed (40mph). this appears to be a common problem among the ford f150 triton v8 engines (having reviewed several internet web sites). there is a design flaw where the rear passenger side cylinder overheats and causes the sparkplug to blow out of the cylinder head. consumers must be made aware of this situation and ford needs to take responsibility and be held accountable. if i were on the freeway with my children in the truck when this failure occured i shudder to think of what could have happened. shame on ford!!!*ak

I have a 2001 f150 supercrew with a 5.4 automatic 4x4 towpackage. since the truck was new i have had issues with it consuming oil, on an average of 3 quarts every 3000 miles. when i would take it to a dealership they would contact ford and relay a message that it was within specifications. on 5/13/03 i took the vehicle back to one of the dealerships telling them that i was going to pursue going to a lemon law attorney. that same day they discovered that the piston rings were lined up and have lost compression. the truck is currently in the dealership having the whole block and heads rebuilt. i am ashamed that it took a threat to finally get them to fix the problem with the 5.4. *tt

Engine rebuilt due to it consuming oil through the rings on the pistons. truck was still burning oil. if let to sit for more than 10 min. it would blow a huge cloud of blue/gray smoke and according to towne ford blue smoke was oil. *tt

The consumer complained that on two occasions, the spark plugs failed. when the spark plugs blew, the entire head needed to be replaced. *jb the consumers wife was driving when the incidents occurred. the dealer replaced the head within 12kmiles in which it blew another spark plug out of the other head. the consumer was told that it was from an internal backfire that was so strong that it blew plugs out. the consumer was aware of others whom experienced that same problem. (cylinder #7 specifically) *sc *jb

The consumer complained that on two occasions, the spark plugs failed. when the spark plugs blew, the entire head needed to be replaced. *jb

I own a 2001 harley f150 ford truck which has a consistant problem, not diagnosed on several occasions by dealers, the service engine light continually pops on. i was told that the truck had to be in the shop while the light was on in order to diagnose. shouldn't the computer record this information. it's still not fixed and now the truck is out of warranty.*ak